Christian Persecution in India: Churches Attacked, Forced Conversions

Last updated: 5 October 2026

Photo: India, Day 11 - Scott Dexter

India Christian persecution has grown sharply since 2014. India's 28 million Christians make up 2.3% of the population. They are one of the country's smallest religious minorities. In recent years, churches have been attacked, pastors beaten, and prayer meetings broken up. Anti-conversion laws in many states criminalise changing religion. Inter-faith couples are jailed under so-called "love jihad" laws. The United Christian Forum recorded more than 700 attacks on Christians in 2023 alone. This article explains how persecution works, where it is worst, and why Christian identity can ground an asylum claim from India.

This report uses evidence from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Human Rights Watch, Open Doors, Freedom House, and Indian Christian groups. It supports expert witnesses, lawyers, and researchers working on human rights and country reports.

The Scale of the Problem

India is home to around 28 million Christians, about 2.3% of the total population.[1] Most live in the northeastern states (Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya), the southern states (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa), and Adivasi (tribal) belts in Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh. Christian communities range from old Syrian Orthodox churches in Kerala (dating back to the 4th century) to small Pentecostal house groups in northern villages.

Before 2014, attacks on Christians happened but were relatively rare. Since 2014, when the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) came to national power, attacks have risen sharply. The United Christian Forum, a coalition of Indian Christian groups, counted:

• 127 attacks in 2014
• 328 attacks in 2019
• 505 attacks in 2021
• 598 attacks in 2022
• 720 attacks in 2023

These numbers likely under-count the real total. Many rural attacks go unreported. Many pastors fear further attack if they complain.

Anti-Conversion Laws

India has no central anti-conversion law. But 12 states have passed their own. These laws are usually called "Freedom of Religion Acts." The name is misleading. The laws do not protect freedom. They limit it. They make it a crime to convert "by force, fraud, or inducement."[2]

In practice, these laws target Christians and Muslims. Hindus who convert others are rarely prosecuted. Police often arrest a pastor when a Hindu family member claims their relative was "forcibly converted," even when the convert says they chose freely.

Uttar Pradesh 2021

The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance was passed in 2020 and made an Act in 2021. It punishes conversion by "force, fraud, allurement, or marriage" with up to 10 years in jail. "Allurement" can include offering food, medicine, or education. The Act requires people who want to convert to give 60 days' notice to a District Magistrate, who investigates.

Other States

Madhya Pradesh (2020), Himachal Pradesh (2019), Uttarakhand (2018, amended 2022), Gujarat (2021), Karnataka (2022), and others have similar laws. Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Jharkhand have older but still active laws.

Attacks on Christians by Year

Table: Anti-Conversion Laws by State

Table 1. Most state anti-conversion laws criminalise inter-faith marriage, not only conversion. Source: USCIRF, Open Doors, state legislative acts.

Attack Patterns

Attacks on Indian Christians follow clear patterns. Mobs gather outside a church during Sunday prayer. They shout that conversion is taking place. They force their way in. They beat the pastor. They tear up Bibles. Police arrive late. Police often arrest the pastor, not the attackers. Charges are brought under the anti-conversion law.

Common attack types documented by the United Christian Forum include:

• Disrupted services — mobs stopping Sunday worship.
• Church vandalism — crosses broken, statues smashed.
• Pastor beatings — physical assault on clergy.
• FIRs against Christians — police charging victims, not attackers.
• Christmas attacks — groups attacking Christmas events (Karnataka 2021 was notable).
• Bible burning — especially in tribal areas.

Tribal Christians: Double Vulnerability

Many Indian Christians are Adivasi (tribal people). They live in forested districts of Odisha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh. Many converted to Christianity in the late 19th and 20th centuries, often through Protestant missions.

Tribal Christians face double vulnerability. They are a religious minority. They are also an ethnic minority. Hindu nationalist groups target them with a particular argument — that tribals are "really" Hindu and were "stolen" by Christian missionaries. The 2008 Kandhamal violence in Odisha killed about 100 Christians and destroyed 300 churches, displacing 50,000 people. Many never returned home.[3]

USCIRF on India

In 2023, religious freedom conditions in India continued to worsen. The Indian government at the national, state, and local levels promoted and enforced religiously discriminatory policies. Authorities targeted Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, and Adivasis, engaging in and tolerating harassment, intimidation, detention, and violence against them.

— US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Annual Report 2024

USCIRF has recommended that India be designated a "Country of Particular Concern" every year since 2020. The US State Department has not yet accepted that recommendation, likely for strategic reasons. But the pattern of persecution is not in serious dispute.

Law Enforcement Response

Police in most BJP-ruled states have been slow to register FIRs against attackers. In some cases, police have stood by while mobs attacked services, only stepping in to arrest pastors. In Karnataka in 2021, police disrupted 39 Christian prayer meetings in one month, often with help from Hindu nationalist groups.

Where Christian victims do manage to file FIRs, cases stall for years. Conviction rates for attackers are very low. Meanwhile, pastors and converts charged under anti-conversion laws often spend weeks or months in jail before bail, even when cases ultimately fail in court.

Manipur 2023: Kuki Christian Violence

In May 2023, ethnic violence broke out in Manipur in India's northeast. The dispute was between the majority Meitei (mostly Hindu) and minority Kuki/Zo (mostly Christian). Over 250 people were killed in the following months. Entire Kuki villages were burned. More than 360 churches were destroyed. About 60,000 people were displaced.

The central government was slow to act. BJP-ruled Manipur state government was accused of bias. The UN Special Rapporteurs on minority issues and on freedom of religion issued joint warnings about the situation. Kuki Christians from Manipur have strong asylum claims based on religious and ethnic persecution.[4]

Implications for Asylum

Indian Christian asylum cases have several features:

Religion Ground

The 1951 Convention protects against persecution for "religion." Indian Christians, especially converts and pastors, face real risk on religious grounds.

Non-State Persecution

Most attacks come from Hindu nationalist groups (RSS, Bajrang Dal, Vishva Hindu Parishad). These are non-state actors. UK law asks whether the state will protect. In BJP states with anti-conversion laws, state protection often fails.

Internal Relocation

Moving to a state without anti-conversion laws (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal) can sometimes work. But converts from BJP states may be tracked by family and community networks. Internal relocation must be assessed case-by-case.

Particular Profiles

Higher-risk profiles include: pastors, recent converts, inter-faith couples, tribal Christians from BJP states, and families displaced in Manipur 2023 or Kandhamal 2008.

For asylum procedure and evidence, see our asylum guide.

Conclusion

India's 28 million Christians face growing persecution. Anti-conversion laws in 12 states criminalise religious change and inter-faith marriage. Hindu nationalist mobs attack churches, often with police sympathy. In Manipur, ethnic violence destroyed 360 Kuki churches in 2023. The United Christian Forum recorded 720 attacks in 2023 — nearly six times the 2014 total.

For asylum decision-makers, Indian Christian claims must be assessed by profile, state, and convert-status. A Kerala-born Syrian Christian faces little risk. A tribal Christian pastor in Uttar Pradesh who has just been charged under the 2021 anti-conversion law faces very serious risk. Expert evidence from South Asia experts can show the decision-maker exactly where on that spectrum a claimant sits.